Nikola Bulatović

Nikola Bulatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Булатовић; born June 14, 1971) is a Montenegrin professional basketball coach and former player, who is an current assistant coach for Podgorica of the Prva A Liga and the ABA League Second Division.

Nikola Bulatović

Podgorica
Position	Assistant coach
League	ABA League Second Division Prva A Liga
Personal information
Born	August 28, 1971 Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia
Nationality	Montenegrin
Listed height	2.12 m (6 ft 11 ^1⁄2 in)
Listed weight	105 kg (231 lb)
Career information
NBA draft	1993 / Undrafted
Playing career	1990–2010
Position	Center
Coaching career	2019–present
Career history
As player:
1990–1993	Budućnost Podgorica
1993–1994	Profikolor
1994–1995	Partizan
1996–1998	FMP Železnik
1998–2000	Budućnost Podgorica
2000–2001	Partizan Belgrade
2001–2002	Montepaschi
2002–2003	Hapoel Tel Aviv
2003–2004	Azovmash Mariupol
2004–2005	CSU Asesoft Ploieşti
2005–2006	AEL Limassol
2006–2007	Igokea
2007–2010	Beovuk
As coach:
2019–2020	Lovćen 1947 (assistant)
2020–present	Podgorica (assistant)
Medals Men's basketball Representing  FR Yugoslavia European Championships 1997 Spain National Team World Championships 1998 Athens National Team

Playing career

Bulatović started his career in his hometown team Budućnost Podgorica. He was part of Partizan Belgrade squad that won national league and cup in 1994–95 season. He helped FMP Železnik to win their first national cup trophy in 1997 before returning to Budućnost, where he won two consecutive national titles. He returned to Partizan for the 2000–01 season before moving abroad, to Italian side Montepaschi Siena. He was the part of the side that won the last ever Saporta Cup trophy. Next season he played for Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv. In 2003 he signed for Greek club Apollon Patras but was released in August, before the season even started. Next few months he spent in Ukraine, in Azovmash Mariupol, before getting released in February 2004.[1] Next month he rejoined his first club, Budućnost, but left soon without playing single game. He went to Romanian club CSU Asesoft Ploieşti where he was part of the squad that won EuroCup Challenge in 2005. Next season he started in Cyprus playing for AEL Limassol,[2] in January 2006 he made a brief return to Asesoft Ploieşti, and month later he signed with Igokea from Bosnia. His last known club was Beovuk, a lower league club from Belgrade.

National team career

Bulatović won gold medals at both the 1997 European Championship and 1998 World championship with the Yugoslavian national team.[3]

Coaching career

In August 2019, Bulatović joined Lovćen 1947 as an assistant coach.[4]

In 2020, Bulatović was added to the coaching staff of Podgorica as an assistant coach.

Personal life

Rape case

In 1998, Bulatović was charged with rape. The event in question took place on 27 May 1998 in his Belgrade apartment where 27-year-old Bulatović (at the time a professional basketball player for FMP Železnik) reportedly raped the underage 15-year-old N.S. (at the time student at one of the Belgrade gymnasiums). At the time she was present at his apartment to complete an earlier commenced interview for a school paper. She was of legal age of consent for sexual activity according to Serbian laws at the time[5] Bulatovic pleaded not guilty, saying he had sexual intercourse with the girl, but that she did not object.[6]

The first court process began in December 1998 and ended with Bulatović sentenced to three years in prison. On appeal, the verdict was overturned and a new trial in June 2003 resulted in a 5-year sentence for Bulatović.

Bulatović, who had an Interpol warrant issued for his capture since May 2009,[7] was arrested in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in December 2011.[8] Within days he was extradited to Montenegro[9] where he began serving his 5-year sentence. He was released from Spuž prison in November 2015 having served four years and fifteen days, an early release reportedly due to the expiry of statute of limitations.[10]

References

1. NIKOLA BULATOVIC IS FREE AGENT!
2. Nikola Bulatović na Kipru (in Serbian)
3. Nikola Bulatovic - Fiba profile
4. "Nikola Bulatović u stručnom štabu Lovćena". fosmedia.me. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
5. Ages of consent in Europe#Serbia Wikipedia - Ages of consent in Europe
7. Košarkaš na poternici Interpola; politika.rs, 20 May 2009
8. Uhapšen Nikola Bulatović!;mondo.rs, 16 December 2011
9. Nikola Bulatović izručen Crnoj Gori;Blic, 18 December 2011
10. O., B. (28 November 2015). "ZASTAREO SLUČAJ SILOVANJA? Bulatović izašao iz zatvora" (in Serbian). Blic. Retrieved 29 November 2015.

External links

• Eurobasket.com profile